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For Immediate Release

Greenpeace International Activists and Freelance Photographer Refused Bail in Russia

Murmansk - The Regional Court of Murmansk today rejected an application made by lawyers for two Greenpeace International activists and a freelance photographer that they be released on bail (1).

A further 27 cases requesting bail will be heard later this week. Twenty-eight Greenpeace International activists, a freelance photographer and a freelance videographer were seized by Russian special forces on the ship Arctic Sunrise in international waters 19 days ago. Their arrests followed a peaceful protest at the Gazprom Arctic oil platform Prirazlomnaya.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said:

“There can be no justification for the continued detention of activists who did nothing more than express their beliefs through entirely peaceful means. They have been charged with a crime that did not happen, they are being held for something nobody thinks they actually did. They are now prisoners of conscience, and as such they are the responsibility of the world.

“We know why our friends remain in jail. We will not be intimidated. We will not stop peacefully challenging Gazprom's and other oil companies’ plans to drill for oil in the Arctic.”

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Something is Happening. People are Drawing Lines.
And We’ve Got It Covered.

But we can't do it without you. Please support our Winter Campaign.

The conditions in which the 30 crew, activists and freelancers have been detained during the last 19 days have on occasions violated the rights of the detainees. Their lawyers are filing complaints to the competent authorities.

“I am concerned about the conditions under which our friends are being held. At the very least they should be together at the same facility, they should be warm and they should have access to basic needs. I cannot express strongly enough the admiration I have for their families, who are bearing this strain with a dignity and determination that is inspiring to people across the world,” Naidoo added.

More than 1.1 million people have sent emails to their Russian embassies and consulates demanding the immediate release of the Arctic 30.

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Further

Because so much winning, another good ole bigot - with an actual bully pulpit - has crawled out of his cave to call for the Ku Klux Klan "to night ride again" and hang Democrats, "Republican Democrats" and "socialist-communists" with "hemp ropes to clean out D.C." The newspaper of one Goodloe Sutton has evidently long been "a cesspool of indefensible bilge." Hence, when asked about the propriety of his call, this defense of the Klan: "Well, they didn't kill but a few people." Thanks Trump.

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